


spring break

by bloodredcherries



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-25
Updated: 2019-04-25
Packaged: 2020-01-31 14:41:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18593356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloodredcherries/pseuds/bloodredcherries
Summary: Theme 1: Spring Break, your typical Spring Break faire.Jellybean had been staring at the belugas for over an hour.





	spring break

**Author's Note:**

> Jellybean's beluga love is inspired by celine_cooperjones. 
> 
> Sorry this is so late.

“...a whole week without Betty and Polly?” Jellybean asked with a wibble in her voice, and FP held back a sigh, wondering how on earth Jellybean hadn’t managed to put two and two together to make four and realize that Hal’s parents swooping in to take Betty and Polly to Disney World (because of course they had, when they could have picked a place that would have made Jellybean less jealous on top of missing her step-sisters) meant that the two girls would be out of the house for the entirety of the Spring Break. “And Juggie is going away, too?” 

 

“Yeah, but Jelly,” he said, his tone soft and his hands on her arms. “That just means that you will have Mama Allie’s and my undivided attention. No older brother or sisters to steal our affections from you.” 

 

“Just Little Critter,” she said miserably. “And he’s  _ way _ more special than I am,” she continued. “He has a daddy  _ and _ a mommy. Mom said I would never have both of those ever again. She’s mad that I asked Mama Allie to come over and meet my oinker.”

 

“Screw your mother,” he said. “You do have a mom and a dad. You’ve got me, and you’ve got Mama Allie. I don’t care how mad your mother is that you took her to see your piggy bank. You hear me?” 

 

FP was damn tired of Gladys and her fucking attitude and mouth. If he had it his way she wouldn’t have been able to see the kids at all after she had ditched Jellybean alone in the trailer with only the Serpent’s dog for company, and then his poor, medically fragile, child had ended up being in the care of  _ Hal Cooper _ because why would the Sheriff had given a fuck about a medically fragile child? She was from the Southside. He was sure the only reason that Cooper had taken her home was to save himself Betty’s reaction to Jughead’s younger sister wandering around Sunnyside unsupervised, or perhaps Alice’s reaction had he left her there and then written about it in the paper. And, sure, whatever, he had full custody and she had supervised visitation, but he thought even  _ that _ was bullshit. Every time Jellybean saw the woman she ended up worse than before. It was really aggravating. The incident involving Alice and that damned piggy bank was the last straw. And now this? He clearly needed to listen in on their telephone conversations. 

 

“Are you sure that Mama Allie doesn’t think I’m bad because I didn’t get invited anywhere?” 

 

“No, Jelly, she doesn’t,” he said. “She just sent me in here to find out why you didn’t want to come out and say goodbye to your sisters.” 

 

“I told you, because they’re leaving for a  _ whole week _ and they’re going to forget all about me. And Juggie is going to  _ Chicago _ with Archie and you and Mama Allie have to work so I don’t get to have  _ any _ fun at all.” 

 

“That’s not true,” he said. “We’re gonna go take you to see a beluga.” 

 

Jellybean’s eyes lit up. “A beluga? Like the song?” He nodded. “We going in the ocean? Is that safe for Little Critter?” 

 

“No, baby, we’re gonna go to an aquarium. All sorts of fish, including belugas. But, Jelly, you gotta come say goodbye to Betty and Polly. They want you to.”   
  


“Daddy, up,” she insisted, and he was happy to oblige. “I say bye to them.” He felt her press a kiss to his hair. “Do I gots to talk to their grandma and grandpa? Is Uncle Hal there?” 

 

FP rolled his eyes heavenward at Jellybean referring to Harold Cooper as her uncle. She hadn’t even been with him that long that day that Gladys got arrested and yet his own daughter seemed to like the man. It was something FP did not even bother to pretend to understand. Unfortunately for FP, Uncle Hal  _ was _ there, and he didn’t think Alice would be very fond of him if he kept her there much longer. 

 

“Yeah, Uncle Hal is here,” he said. “You don’t have to talk to their grandparents. You can just sit on the couch with Mama Allie and say goodbye to Betty and Polly and we’ll tell Mama Allie about how we’re gonna see a beluga, okay?”

 

“Is Little Critter kicking?” Jellybean asked in a hopeful tone. “Mama said gentle touches.” 

 

“To you?”

 

She shook her head. “Uncle Hal at the paper yesterday. They put the paper to sleep without a bedtime story again and I heard Mama say ‘I am not a zoo animal, Harold, stop pawing at me in an attempt to annoy my baby’.”

 

FP forced himself to not let his irritation show, and reminded himself that Alice was capable of defending herself, and that this was his stepdaughters’ father, and the man that had made sure that Jellybean was safe and warm and not locked out of their  _ fucking _ trailer in the dark and cold, and of course, that he and Alice worked together and there was that to consider as well. He was still annoyed. Alice was pregnant with  _ his _ son, and, she was right, she was not a zoo animal. He sighed. 

 

“What’s wrong, Daddy?” 

 

“Nothing, Jells,” he promised her. “The baby’s awake, and Mama would like you to feel him, okay?” 

 

She nodded, the braids that Alice had done for her the night before bouncing wildly. 

  
  


***

  
  


Alice regretted wearing the high heels to the aquarium that day, but she had vowed not to let it show, not wanting to upset Jellybean and have her insist that they needed to go home when she was clearly enjoying herself. She had spent the start of the vacation moping about being alone, and Alice had given up and taken the week off work to spend with her. Hal was annoying her, anyways. It really had not been a great sacrifice. And it had made her Jellybean happy. 

 

Alice loved the little girl as if she was her own. She was happy to take a week off to hang out with her. And, of course, had been willing to bring her to the aquarium with FP on his day off. 

 

“Mama, I have a question,” she said, drawing Alice out of her thoughts, and she turned to look down at the little girl, who had been chattering at the whales, previously not paying Alice any mind. 

 

“What is it, Bean?” 

 

“I know I can’t have an oinker,” Jellybean said, as she clung to Alice’s hand, and pressed the other against the side of the beluga tank, “but why can’t I have a beluga? Will you think about it, Mama?”

 

“The belugas like it here,” Alice told her, and she smiled down at Jellybean. “But Daddy and I will take you to see them again.” 

 

“Next time, can Betty and Polly, and Juggie, come?” Jellybean’s eyes were filled with hope. “I want them to meet the belugas.” 

 

“Sure, baby,” she whispered. “Do you mind if we sit on the bench for a minute? Your brother is very active all of a sudden. I need to sit.”

 

Jellybean had been staring at the belugas for over an hour. 

 

“Oh, Little Critter,” Jellybean cooed, the baby bump drawing her attention. “We can sit, Mama.”

 

“You good, babe?” FP asked her, concern evident on his features. “You and the baby?”

 

“We’re fine,” Alice said, as she allowed Jellybean to lead her by the hand to the bench she had been eying for the past half an hour. “I just need to sit for a minute to rest my feet. Come sit with us.” 

 

Jellybean had climbed up on the bench beside Alice, her gaze locked on the baby bump that housed her little brother, and FP hovered over them, his eyes clouded with worry. Alice really only needed to sit because she had foolishly worn high heels to the aquarium, having underestimated Jellybean’s attention span and her energy level when it came to things that she wanted to do, and others wanted to do less of. 

 

“Sit  _ down _ Daddy,” Jellybean insisted. “Mama Allie isn’t a zoo exhibit. Little Critter is practicing his tricks, we need to wait for him to be done.” 

 

“When we get home, I might need a foot rub,” Alice told him. “For now, come feel your son. He’s doing his best impersonation of a beluga inside of me. I  _ feel _ like a beluga.”

 

“You’re not a beluga, Mama,” Jellybean said. “Those are the belugas. See? They are in the big tank.”

 

Beside her, FP chuckled. “Mama knows she’s not a beluga, baby. She’s just feeling a little tired, I think. You know how it goes. Little Critter wears her out sometimes.”

 

“Maybe Mama needs to take a nap?”

 

“No, don’t worry about me,” Alice told her. “We can stay and look at the belugas some more. This is your spring break treat.” 


End file.
